Great White North
by AndyArcher
Summary: All of the Fallout games take place in America, but what about their neighbors to the north? This is a story about three average sixteen year-olds and their adventures throughout the wastes of Toronto.
1. Chapter 1

War. War never changes. The United States of America was not the only country hit by the warheads. Because Canada was annexed by the Americans to protect their resources in Alaska, Canada too, became a target for the Communists. All the province's capitals and major cities were bombed, along with any cities along the Alaskan Pipeline. All of North America was a smoldering ruin. However, all was not lost for those above the 49th Parallel. Because Pre-War U.S.A. and Canada were so tightly intertwined in culture, wealth and industry, Vault-Tec did have a Canadian branch. Many vaults were built in the Appalachians in Quebec and the eastern provinces, and in the Niagara Escarpment in southern Ontario, Canadian Shield in the north, and the Rockies in British Columbia. It is within one of the vaults of the Escarpment, Vault 67, where our story begins.

In the year 2252, Vault 67 opened its door for the first time in almost 200 years. A team of scavengers were sent out to scout what was left of what was once Canada's most industrious and populated area. What greeted them was not a welcoming sight. The rich forests of the area were no more, replaced with kilometers of dead trees, like needles sticking out of the ground. In the distance they could see a great tower, surrounded by vast stretches of ruins. The records called the city Toronto. As they spread out and searched more, they discovered small patches of civilization. People who somehow managed to survive the fires of the warheads without the protection of a vault. These people were generally peaceful, and trading between the two groups began. Vault 67 gave the settlers water, while the settlers provided anything they could gather from the wastes. It seemed like there was a possibility of prosperity and peace. And for a while there was.

But tensions began to rise between the two societies. The wastelanders saw how nice life in the Vault was. Free water, food and clean living conditions. Some wastelanders began to make offers to the Overseer, asking for housing within the vault. But the Overseer knew she could not let them in. Not only would it be unfair for the residents, but there was hardly enough room for them. She knew that if she let one or two in, they would all want in, and she could not have that. So she simply began to say 'No'. This made the wastelanders angry, and they began to attack the vaults traders, taking their supplies. The Overseer had no choice but to recall everyone from the area and reseal the doors. Life in the vault went on as it had the years before: boring, but safe. Yet Vault 67 would never be the same after opening its doors.

"I don't want to take my G.O.A.T." William Foreman was your classic: 'Too Cool For School' kind of guy. He wore his vault suit with his sleeves rolled up and deliberately ripped parts of his pants. He had a full head of black hair, which was always unkempt. He was the son of the Chief of Security, and therefore one of the few people allowed having guns in the vault. He was quite good with them as well.

"We all know you're gunna get Chief of Security, just like your dad." Ashley Smith was the only girl in the group. She had short red hair in a ponytail, covered in a blue bandana. She had quite a few ear piercings as well. She was a tomboy, partly because her dad is a vault engineer, but mostly because there was only really one other group of girls in their age, and Ashley couldn't stand them, therefore becoming one of the guys.

"Now, that's not necessarily true, he could get anything." Maxwell Foster was the voice of reason. His mother was Overseer Elizabeth Foster. He was a boy of small stature, kind of a wimp. He had a pair of glasses and short, tidy brown hair. He wore his vault suit exactly the way it was meant to.

"If I get something like hairdresser, I'm going to kill myself." said Will, slamming his head onto the Diner's table.

"Oh, relax. Even if you do end up with hairdresser, the Overseer will pick you to be on security. It's not like what you get on your G.O.A.T. affects that." said Ashley.

"Well, whatever we get, this is probably the biggest day of our life!" said Max, excitedly.

"It's cruel to make 16 year-olds have to go through this, this early in life." said Will.

"I know, but it's the way it's been done forever, and it's not gunna change now." said Ashley. "We better get going. If we get there late, we'll all end up with Garbage Burner."

The trio began to walk towards the classroom. They could see they weren't the only people procrastinating, for there was a group of kids playing pool in the rec. room. One boy shot the 8-ball into a net and finished their game. They too, headed into the cold, steel halls of Vault 67. The classroom was in one of the lower levels of the vault, along with the clinic. They strolled through the confusing halls of the vault with ease, having memorized them at a young age. As they approached the classroom, they were stopped by a group of girls doing their makeup and giggling in a corner.

"Oh god, here we go…" said Ashley, rolling her eyes.

"Well, if it isn't 'Little Miss Mechanic'. Come to borrow some mascara? Oh, of course not. The auto shop is downstairs, Ash." giggled the leader of the girls. The girls behind her laughed hysterically and pointed at Ashley.

William threw his arm over Ashley's shoulder. "Ignore them. It wasn't even that good of an insult. I could have thought of a thousand better things to call you."

"Thanks…"

William let out a laugh. "I'm just kidding! Come on. Let's go take the test."

William, Maxwell and Ashley walked into the classroom. They took their usual three seats in the back corner of the classroom. Their teacher, Mr. Horwath was pacing along the front of the classroom. Their teacher was always a nervous wreck. He had spent the last week or so ranting to his students about how they were all going to fail and get Garbage Burner as their result, which isn't exactly reassuring. He got Max to pass out the exams while he turned on the projector. The screen at the front of the class came alive with the feared image of Vault-Boy riding a goat.

"Alright students, are…are you ready?" stuttered Mr. Horwath. He was answered by a heavy silence, broken only by William slamming his head into his desk, again.

Mr. Horwath looked around nervously as he dimmed the lights. "…okay, Here we go."

The G.O.A.T. is a relatively small test, only 10 multiple choice questions long. However, the reason why the teens of the vault dreaded it was because their result would most likely become their profession in the vault for the rest of their lives, giving it the name Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. G.. It asks questions designed to find out your personality or skills, so it can place you in a position. The screen changed slides to show the current question and a corresponding image. After about 25 minutes, the final answer was circled, and the lights came back on.

The students grabbed their tests and formed a line in front of Mr. Horwath's desk. He took the test out of the first student's hand read it over. He nodded and said something to the boy. The boy turned around with a grin and gave his friend behind him a high-five. His friend was next. This time, when the boy turned around, he seemed very upset. He told his friend his result and his friend burst out in laughter.

William leaned over and whispered into Max's ear. "Probably got Garbage Burner"

"Hey, don't be like that! You were so worried a minute ago, what happened?" said Max.

"Oh, I'm not anymore, I totally aced that."

Mr. Horwath looked over to their group. "Ms. Smith. You're next."

Ashley handed her test to the teacher. He looked over it and grinned. "Well, no surprise here! Looks like you're going to be the new Jukebox Technician! Good thing, too. Damn thing always skips at the best parts."

Ashley shrugged and returned to the boys. "Jukebox Technician. I think I can live with that."

"Mr. Foster!" called Mr. Horwath. Max too, handed his test over the teacher. Mr. Horwath read it and looked up at Max. "Pip-Boy Technician! Lots of science-ey stuff! You like that, right?"

Maxwell was beaming when he came back to his friends. "I got Pip-Boy Technician!"

William smirked and said: "Oh really, I thought they would've named you the Overseer right then and there."

"Oh, shut up, Will. You knew that wasn't gunna happen." said Ashley scornfully. "Go, It's your turn."

"Just kidding, you guys!" said Will, heading towards the desk. He confidently placed his test on it. Mr. Horwath picked it up and read it over. After a few references to another very official looking form, he looked up at William and said: "Fry Cook!"

"Fry… Fry Cook? No, there's gotta be a mistake, right?"

"Nope. Says right here. Come on, it's not that bad. Besides, I'm pretty sure you'll be a nice change from the current guy. I'm pretty sure he spits in our burgers…"

William was absolutely devastated. The short trip back to his friends felt like miles. His head was spinning violently. Fry Cook? He was going to have to spend the rest of his life flipping patties. It's barely better than Garbage Burner.

"Hey you don't look good. What'd you get?" asked Max.

"Fry Cook." answered William. The other two exchanged worried glances.

Hours later, all the teens of the vault were in the rec. room celebrating their new jobs. Music was loud, and the Nuka-Cola machine was overflowing. However Max, Ashley and Will were in a booth in the corner of the room. Ashley was staring intently at the jukebox; Max was studying the Pip-Boy in his forearm, and William was banging his head onto the table in beat with the music.

"Oh, lighten up." said Ashley.

"Yeah, at least it's not Garbage Burner!" said Maxwell.

"Whatever, I'm sure we'll all be sick of our jobs in a bit. We'll perform the same menial task everyday for the rest of our lives. How meaningless our lives are." said Will, woefully. "It wasn't like that back when the vault was open. Those must have been the days."

"Will, you know my mom doesn't like it when we talk about that." Max said quietly.

William defended himself. "Yeah? And why not? Both my and Ash's fathers were part of the group that got to explore topside. We grew up hearing stories of the adventures they had up there. It makes the vault seem that much more boring."

"You're right, Will. We shouldn't have to be cooped up down here when it's been proven we can survive up there." agreed Ashley

"You guys…" said Max nervously.

William slammed his fist down on the table and grinned. "It's decided then. We're breaking out of the vault!" 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing! This was a pretty fast update, I know. It probably won't happen much. Now, I am awarding 1,000,000 Internetz to whoever can spot all the Canadian history/culture references and allusions in this story, and tell me in a review. :D **

"WHAT!" Max exclaimed in near horror. "You want to break out of the vault?"

"Yeah, I think it's a great Idea! You agree, right Ash?" said William, glancing at the girl across from him.

"SHHH. Breaking out of the vault isn't necessarily the kind of conversation you want to advertise! But, yeah, I do think it's a good idea." responded Ashley.

"Exactly! Max, your mom opened them all those years ago, so we know it can be done!"

"That doesn't mean we should. Besides, how would we even open the door? Only the Overseer has the code, and…" Max looked over to William and saw the look on his face. William winked and nudged Maxwell's elbow. "…No, no way Will. I am not going to steal the code from my own mother."

"Hey, I never said steal, per say. Just… coax it out of her, or mysteriously find it in your possession, I don't know. Okay, look guys, all I'm saying is to mull it over. Think of the sun. The real sun. The one that we read about." He glanced around at his friends. After a long pause, he yawned. "Well, I'm off to bed!"

And so William got up from the table with a completely different attitude than when he sat down. Ashley and Max were left with a lot to think about, so they too, returned to their vault apartments. The diner being on the upper levels of the vault, William got home first.

"Hey, dad, do you mind telling me about outside again?" William asked as soon as he walked into his house.

"What? I'd love to! You haven't asked for a story since you were a little boy! Oooh, which one? The one with the falling building? The glowing urine story? What about the rabid irradiated raccoon?

William chuckled. His dad always got like this when telling stories. "Uh, any one is fine, I guess."

"The raccoon story it is!" His dad exclaimed from his arm chair. "So our team had just left the vault for the first time, we headed down towards a small woody area. These trees had managed to begin to grow some foliage. After taking some samples and photos, Jim thought he heard a bush shake. We all thought he was crazy of course, but he insisted we check it out. As soon as Jim approached it, a raccoon the size of a dog shot out of it! And so…"

William's father continued to tell stories of the wasteland all night. He told stories of the great tower, a great expanse of water, rabid animals and sometimes equally rabid humans. But he eventually tired out and went to bed. William however lay in their living room listening to his favourite record. His mind was swimming with thoughts of adventure under the sun. After a short while he decided that if Ash and Max didn't want to go out, he'd go alone. With that as his final thought, he fell asleep right there on the floor, record still spinning.

The next day was a saturday, and students had the whole weekend to relax before starting training for their new careers. But Max and Ash could not relax after the proposal that Will had made the day earlier. Neither of them got much sleep the night earlier. They were both walking together on their way to Will's house to further discuss the situation.

"As crazy as it seems, I can't help but feel really excited about the whole thing." Ashley explained to Max, approaching William's door.

"I guess it is quite intriguing. But it's so risky! We'll put the whole vault in danger!" replied Max.

Ashley knocked on the door to the apartment. After a few moments wait, the door swung open to the sight of a much disheveled Will.

"Oh, jeez Will, you look worse than usual!" noted Ashley.

"Shut it. I just woke up off the floor." He said grumpily.

"Just kidding!" she retorted, in a mocking tone. She and Max let themselves in to the house and took a seat on the green sofa. "It's nearly noon, and you're just getting up now?

"Yeah, late night. I got my dad to tell me some stories from his days on the scouting team." He said, shuffling his way over to the kitchen. "Speaking of which, have you given it any thought?"

Max shifted his position on the couch and adjusted his glasses. "Uh, yes. But I just want to make sure you know all the risks and difficulties."

William returned to the living room area with a glass of juice, still extremely groggy, and sat himself down on the armchair. "Lay 'em on me, Maxie."

Max sat himself upright. "Well, first the risks: One, we'd be endangering the entire vault by exposing them to the outside world. Second, if we get caught, we'd be in really big trouble. Third-"

"Not to mention never seeing our families again." Ashley cut in.

"I'm sure our parents would come out eventually, knowing we're out there. They've been up there, they loved it!" replied William.

"Not my mom. Her duty is to the vault and she would never abandon it like that."

"I guess. But I mean, all birds leave the nest someday, right? A really big, complicated, metallic nest in this case…" said Will.

Adjusting his glasses again, Maxwell carried on. "That brings me to my next point: Complicated. How are we supposed to get out of here?" Max sighed. "Let's say we decided we were going to leave, how would we go about doing it? We'd need a really good plan to pull it off."

"Well then, let's brainstorm shall we?" With new-found invigoration, William grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. "Our way of exit?"

Ashley chimed in. "There's only the front door. It's the only way in and out of Vault 67. The only options would be to get the code from Max's mom, or override the system. Neither of which will be very easily accomplished."

"I feel like the code would be easier." said Will. "Of course that will depend almost entirely on you, Max."

Max sighed. "I know. Wait, let's not get carried away, we didn't even decide if we're going to go through with this or not!"

There was a very tense silence. The three friends all exchanged glances. Some worried and some reassuring. Finally, after about a minute of silence, Ashley stood up.

"Let's do it, Will." she said confidently.

"Alright! Come on, Max. We don't want to have to leave you behind." Both William and Ashley glanced over at him. After a while he finally spoke up and said a single word.

"Yes."

Ashley and William cheered and hugged Maxwell. The entire day was spent in William's living room planning their breakout. They didn't have to fear of anyone listening in because William's father was at work and no one can hear anything through the thick metal walls of the vault. They considered many plans. One of William's suggestions forced Ashley to smack him so hard on the head his ears rang. But eventually they all came to what they believed to be the most efficient plan with the highest chance of success.

Max was to go to his mother's office the next day and ask to search the vaults archives pretending to look for information on the different Pip-Boy models in other vaults. While that was happening, William was to distract the Overseer for as long as possible. Back in the apartments, Ashley was packing supplies because she has the best access to the vaults tools and resources. As it approached dinner time, the friends decided to put their plan at the back of their mind and enjoy a final supper in the vault.

They made a dinner of Pork 'n' Beans, Instamash, and some Fancy Lads Snack Cakes. Not much of which got on their plates after a brief food fight. They drank Nuka-Cola and Sunset Sarsaparilla while they danced to some of William's records. Together they got lost in their own little world and forgot about the plan and their troubles in the vault. Eventually, Ashley and Max took their leave. Giggling as they shut the door behind them, they wandered back to their own homes. William sighed and cleaned up the mess they had left behind. He was exhausted when he finished, so he wiped his brow and went to his room to sleep in his bed for the last time.

**A/N: I had actually planned for them to get out of the vault this chapter, but there was way too much content for one chapter, so I split this in to two parts, the next of which will be coming soon. So, I hope you enjoyed it and I am probably working on the next chapter as you read this! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry for the delay... months of delay. Actually I don't even know if 'delay' is a good enough word to describe how long I've been gone. What with school, homework, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and solid internet connection, I haven't made much time to write this, and I genuinely apologize. I really want to try to fix my continuity issues and actually update this regularly. But my love of Fallout and Canada persists, and so here's another chapter, but first, the references so far are :The great tower is the CN Tower and the expanse of water is Lake Ontario. The other two references are the Vault's number, 67, because Canada's confederation was in 1867. The other is the name of the Overseer, Elizabeth, after the current Queen of England and head of the Commonwealth, which Canada is part of. Alright, here we go... **

William awoke with a start. He had been having an awful nightmare in which he was crawling through a puddle of a green, glowing liquid that was oozing all over him and then absolutely devoured by the irradiated raccoon from his father's story. He grudgingly sat himself up and placed his feet on the cold floor of the vault. Looking back, the nightmare seemed silly now, but it had been awfully scary while it was happening. William dragged himself off his bed and slumped his way to the bathroom. He hadn't gotten too much sleep last night. Not only because of the nightmare, but he was worried sick about the day ahead. Thoughts like: _What if something goes wrong, _and _Oh god, it'll be all my fault _continued to stream through his head. Spaced out, he wandered into the living room, still in just boxers and a T-shirt, and sat himself down on the couch.

His train of thought was interrupted by a pounding knock at the door. "Must be Max and Ash." He said, not sure how he felt about it. Now that he well awake, he got up quickly and made his way to the door. As he opened it he formed his face into a smile and said "Hey guy-", but he stopped. The person at the door was neither Ashley nor Max, but Max's mother, Overseer Elizabeth Foster. William's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. His heart was racing. When he had opened the door, she was looking down the hallway, but now she had turned her tall, thin body to look at William with her piercing blue eyes. Overseer Elizabeth was not an old woman, but her shoulder length hair's curls were a dark grey. She had a scar across her left cheek. Where it came from, nobody knows.

Seeing the Overseer in the vault wasn't a _huge _deal, but his conscious wouldn't let him look her straight in the eye which seemed to be staring into his soul at this very moment.

"Good morning, Miss Overseer." muttered William. She looked him up and down, noticing his underwear and looked back at his face with a seeming look of disgust, then a quick, forced smile. She opened her mouth, clearly about to speak, and then stopped. She thought for a moment and continued:

"Is your father home, Mr. Foreman?" She asked, as she brushed past William and wandered into the living room.

William gritted his teeth. "No." he nearly snarled. The Overseer noticed and gave him another look but continued on her exploration of their bookshelf.

"Well, my boy, could you tell him to see me when he gets home?" She slid her finger across the top of the shelf, collecting a neat little pile of dust on her fingers. "I have something I wish to..." she flicked the dust off her forefinger with her thumb. "...talk to him about."

"Will do, ma'am." said William, with mock joy. She made her way to the door, glaring at him the whole way. Finally she made it out the door and began to make her way down the hall. William started shutting the door, but heard the Overseer calling again.

"Oh, William! I nearly forgot! Congratulations on Fry Cook! I'm sure your father is so proud." said Elizabeth, clearly condescendingly. It dawned upon William then that he hadn't actually told his dad yet. Elizabeth continued down the hallway. "Just remember," she shouted over her shoulder. "I like my burgers medium rare." William could have sworn he heard her laugh maniacally. As she turned the corner a man shot his head out of a nearby apartment, clearly confused after hearing the ruckus outside. William waved at him and the man glared at him, not unlike the Overseer and went back into his apartment.

William rolled his eyes and slammed the heavy metal door shut, causing a loud bang and shaking his apartment. _Great. First I annoy my hall, and now the entire floor. _William leaned his back against the door and slowly slid down to the floor, flopping his head to the side. "It's only eight in the morning. Could this day get any worse?" he groaned. Then he remembered what he's doing today for the second time. "Yeah. Yeah, it definitely could." William was definitely looking forward to the outside world, but he was just worried about their plan to actually get out.

There was another knock on the door, although much softer this time. William contemplated not answering and staying inside, cut off from all the poo-heads in the vault, but knew it could be Max or Ashley. He picked himself up and pulled opened the door, a little more hopeful this time. His prayers were answered, and a pretty red-headed girl stood in the doorway. "Hey, Ashley!" said William, with clear and genuine joy.

Ashley smiled, but gave Mark a questioning look. "Who else would it be, Will?"

"Well, could be Max, but I was just glad it wasn't the Overseer again." said William.

Ashley sat herself down on the couch and popped open a Nuka-Cola, then having processed what he said, got a confused look. "Again?"

William rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she just stopped by, asking for my dad. Just let herself in too, started feeling up my bookshelf like she had a crush on it or something." William's face went from amusement to anger. "Then she mocked me for getting Fry Cook. She's so rude. I really don't like her."

"Oh, relax, Will. I'm not too fond of her either, but she's Max's mom. We can't just openly bash her."

William stood up straight and pointed his finger matter-of-factly. "I know. Which is exactly why I'm bashing her now, when he's not here." Will looked around the room. "Hey Ash, where is Max, anyway?"

Ashley shrugged. "I have no clue. We were supposed to meet in the rec room, but he never showed up, so I just headed over. I was hoping he'd be here."

"Nope. Well, we weren't supposed to meet here until eight-thirty, so I guess he's still got a while." William sat on the chair across from Ashley and looked at her. She was dressed as she usually was: Vault suit worn correctly, but incredibly messy, and her bright red hair up in a ponytail tied with a blue bandana. However, he did notice an extra piercing in her right ear. It was a diamond studded maple leaf. He knew this was her mother's earring, and that it was best not to ask about it. He knew only too well how it was to talk about a mother's death. So instead the pair sat across from each other awkwardly for a few minutes. Ashley kept glancing at William. They made eye contact. William quickly looked away and whistled while patting his hands on his knees. _Why is this awkward? We're best friends? _

Ashley finally sputtered out "You know you're only wearing underwear, right!"

_Ah. That'd do it. _

"RIGHT." William shot up and ran towards his room, hands covering his groin. Ashley was laughing at him. "Give me a sec, I was just a little out of it this morning."

William returned from his room a minute or two later, rolling up his sleeves and acting as if nothing had happened, but Ashley was still smirking. William looked around. "Maxie-boy still not here?"

"No he showed up. I'm just hiding him under my boot." said Ashley sarcastically.

William glared. "I don't need your sass." Ashley sat back happily. They had some idle small talk for a few minutes. During a brief silence, William began to pace nearby the apartment door. "Where _is _he? It's eight forty-five now. We're behind schedule."

Ashley tried to reassure William. "Maybe he just woke up a little late, or his mom is making him do something and had no way to tell us, or something." She began confident, but by the end it sounded like she was convincing herself as well.

William looked at Ashley and then to the floor, thinking. "Okay. We'll wait longer. It's not like there's much we can do without him anyway."

"Well, we could pack! I already got my personal belongings in a bag, but we could get some food and tools." exclaimed Ashley, glad to have thought of something to keep them occupied.

William agreed and they grabbed some food from his cabinet. Not wanting to take too much, they also wandered down to take some from Ashley's house, stopping by Vault 67's kitchen to snag some supplies as well.

Ashley poked her head around the side of the counter. William saw her face light up from his lookout position in the hallway, and she scuttled back to him. "It's great. There's food everywhere, even a neatly packed little bag for something."

William grinned. "Perfect, get as much as you can, and make sure you get that bag."

Ashley nodded. "Gotcha." She snuck back into the kitchen. William saw her check both ways again and she disappeared to the other side of the counter. After about a minute she returned, arms overflowing with goods, and the bag on top. "Nobody in there, it's an easy heist." she said, proudly.

"Still, shouldn't take too much. Might rot or something." said William, checking the halls again before slipping out. Ashley quickly shoved the food into her bag and followed him.

"Rot? Are you joking? This is vault food. Some of it's older than we are." She heard something fall and turned around. There was a Fancy Lad Snack Cake on the ground, but she decided it wasn't worth retrieving. She sprinted and caught up with William.

"Alright, now to your place. Race you there?" grinned William.

"Ugh, not fair. I have the bag." pleaded Ashley.

"Sucks for you!" shouted William over his shoulder as he shot down the hallway. Ashley stopped, rolled her eyes and groaned. Then she too shot forward and despite the weight of the bag caught up quickly. The pair ran the halls of the vault nefariously, hopping over the cleaning bots and toppling over the occasional chair. They were laughing and smiling and totally forgot about what their plans were for the day. William sprinted and took a definite lead. Ashley glanced forward to look at William, but the smile was wiped off her face as he went face first into somebody's chest and fell to the floor. Ashley quickly slid to his side and helped him up, ignoring the person he had bumped into entirely.

William rubbed his head and said, "I'm alright, thanks." Then he looked up and his face went completely pale. Ashley could see the horror in his eyes, but didn't know what from. She turned to look at what he was looking at, and her jaw dropped, she could feel the colour from her skin drain as well.

In front of them was Overseer Elizabeth. But it wasn't the disgruntled and angry woman that they were so shocked by. It was who was behind her: William's father, Chief of Security, putting a pair of handcuffs around Maxwell Foster's hands.


End file.
